Tim Pernetti often sits courtside during Rutgers’ men’s basketball games, schmoozing with boosters and high-profile alumni. The athletics director sat in his usual spot during Tuesday’s game against George Washington, but the bulk of his attention was focused on a different subject.

For the better part of two hours, Pernetti watched head coach Mike Rice like a hawk. …continue reading →

Charlie Rigoglioso, a walk-on during Rice’s first two years who is now works in real estate in Virginia

“I was shocked. I feel bad for Rice and his family. It’s unfortunate for the team.”

“I loved playing for Coach Rice. I had nothing but a great experience at Rutgers. He was tough, he expects the most from you, but it’s Division I athletics. Rice is a fiery, intense guy. He’s just as intense when he’s excited for you, when you do something great, he’s chest-bumping you. When someone makes a mistake he’s the same way because he cares so much. He’s not an outlier. There are coaches with that style in all of athletics.”

(Rigoglioso played for six different coaches, he was a three-sport athlete in high school, played a year of Hoops at Moravian and played a year under Fred Hill at Rutgers.)

“Players react differently to it. Maturity levels vary coming out of high school. What I appreciated about Coach Rice, which I feel is rare with most Division I coaches, is he treated every single player the same. He expected just as much out of me as he expected out of Dane Miller. That’s why I have nothing but kind words to say about Coach Rice. He was fair and his style was intense and fiery, but that’s how he wanted his teams to play on the court.”

On whether he witnessed abusive language and Rice throwing basketballs at people’s heads: “I think it’s overblown, to pinpoint stuff like that. People have been asking me about it, and not once, even for a second, did I feel he wanted to hurt some player or harm somebody physically. He must have rubbed somebody the wrong way for this to come out, but I think he’s a great guy and a great coach.”

“I understand what Rutgers is doing, but it’s unfortunate.”

Mark Taylor, St. Benedict’s Prep coach and former teammate of Rice’s at Fordham:

“Mike’s a great guy. He’s passionate about what he does. He’s trying to get his players to be the best they can be. I don’t believe in cursing players out necessarily—it seems like that’s what happened. As a coach I try not to do that. But there’s a lot of pressure on college coaches. These guys are under a microscope. They have families to feed and their job is constantly on the line. At the end of every year a bunch of coaches get fired. But there’s no excuse for that kind of behavior if that’s what he did.”

“Any time you have this kind of publicity, it definitely hurts your ability to recruit and it doesn’t go away overnight. The main thing Mike has to focus on is his team internally right now, making sure they’re all on the same page. Your best recruiting is your players who play for you. If he has his house in order, eventually he’ll be able to get beyond this.”

“We all make mistakes. People are pretty forgiving when you come forward and admit your mistakes.”

Jay Gomes, NJ Hoops publisher and former colleague of Rice’s at the Hoop Group:

“This kind of publicity is not a good thing. But people who know Coach Rice know about his intensity and how demanding he is and how hard he can be on players. That’s how he gets the most out of them.”

“It’s a little bit of a changing of the culture. Mike is a little bit old-school. His language could be bad at times and he could be brutally honest at times.”

“In the world of college athletics there is so much scrutiny now . Everything is dissected. Nothing stays in the boundaries of the court or the four walls of the locker room anymore. With social media, everything that happens comes out eventually.”

“It always helps when you win games. That’s basically what he’s hire dfor. The other stuff, how you conduct yourself, that is very important. But the main thing is you are hired to win games. If you win games, people will eventually forget this.”

“His decorum during the games has been much improved from earlier in his career. He’s proved he can make changes and adjustments. I think he’s going to have to take that to the practice court a little more.”

If so, who should it be against and why? College Football is part of the fond fabric in America due to the school spirit and contagious support from the alums and home state. Every Saturday, millions of people tune in to watch their favorite college football teams battle among each other for superiority, respect, and […]

We preview this weekend’s action here Coming off of the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, Rutgers will send ten male and two female track and field athletes to this weekend’s NCAA East Regional Preliminary Championships. It takes place from May 24th to 26th in Tampa, Florida, Here is full breakdown of which athletes are […]